Buttery Art

I have a new love and fascination...with buttercream.  So simple.  So magical!  This particular buttercream was made for me by my extern, who spent many years as a cake decorator.  His technique for making it was unfamiliar to me, so I was a bit skeptical.  Turns out he knew what he was doing.  He likened the texture of his buttercream to oil paint, with the silkiest shine and texture yet the strength to stand tall on its own.

I took the opportunity to work with it on a small 5" birthday cake for my cook's wife.  For the botanically minded, you may recognize my attempt at a climbing blue wisteria.  For those who are not, uh...that's my attempt at a climbing blue wisteria.  Anatomically correct or not, the whole point of the exercise was to bring whimsy, movement, and color to an ordinary cake with just an artful piping of buttercream.  I love how this medium can entirely change a cake's shape.  I also admire how it can pipe beautiful patterns and micro thin petals and still be soft and delicious to eat.